Random 1
by Starchains
Summary: Random stories and snippets, based on one word prompts. Chapter 9 - Harry and Shoichi, Meetings
1. Strength

**Strength**

In the years that Neville had been employed as the Head Gardener of the Vongola Estate, he had had many opportunities to examine his Boss, and his Boss's Guardians. Mr Sawada was calm and kind, with an incredibly soothing presence. Something about him reminded Neville of Harry, although their temperaments were incredibly different. Harry was the archetypal Gryffindor, where Mr Sawada was a Hufflepuff through and through.

The most interesting person, however, was not Mr Sawada but Miss Dokuro. The Mist Guardian enjoyed wandering the gardens when she had free time, so Neville had naturally got to know her better than her comrades. She was quiet, almost shy, despite her provocative way of dressing. Neville, used to the conservatives fashions of Wizarding England, had almost had a heart attack when she came up to him to ask about the flowers, dressed in a skirt that hardly covered anything and a shirt that exposed her stomach.

Chrome, as Miss Dokuro insisted he call her, reminded him so much of Luna that it hurt. They were both quiet, and slightly out of step with the world. They didn't fit in, they didn't quite have a place. Neville saw how the other Guardians kept a seemingly unconscious distance from her, with only Mr Sawada embracing her fully. Neville thought it was a shame that the people she called friends, when their conversations moved from flowers and landscaping to more personal areas, couldn't see her properly. They distrusted her, because her loyalty was not only to Mr Sawada, but to someone else as well.

Neville remembered how Luna had been quiet, and distant, when he saw in the corridors before they had become friends. She had been a washed-out pencil drawing, compared to the vibrant painting she had become. Chrome was like that. When she had friends, when she had people to be loyal to, she was strong. Like Luna, her physical fragility concealed an incredible strength, and a truly terrifying amount of power. Neville hoped that Chrome's fellow Guardians would realise soon how much she had to give her family, if only they were willing to accept it.

* * *

So this is the first in my 'Random' series! I generate a random word, and two random characters, and write a fic. Because I'm choosing characters from multiple fandoms, these ficlets will be posted separately.


	2. Cloud

**Cloud**

When Harry was eight, there had been a man who lived across the road. According to Aunt Petunia's gleeful gossip, he was a wealthy Italian, come here for some peace, quiet, and respectable society. They desperately wanted to impress him, so when he asked if Harry could come over and do some chores for him, they didn't hesitate to push him out the door, with an admonition to 'behave yourself!'.

The man, Mr Bertesca, was nice. He made Harry lunch, and gave him sweets, and let him rest on the sofa if he got too tired. He didn't have to do even half the chores that he did for the Dursleys, and he was given his own yellow rubber gloves so that the cleaning liquids didn't hurt his hands. Mr Bertesca even let Harry watch TV when the chores were done, winking at him and promising not to tell Aunt Petunia.

Slowly, Mr Bertesca got Harry to tell him about his home life. Harry told him about how his cousin bullied him, and his Aunt gave him way more chores than Mr Bertesca asked him to do! He even confided in a whisper about his cupboard, and Mr Bertesca told him that it wasn't fair that Dudley's toys got a room to themselves when Harry didn't. Harry had never thought of it like that. He knew they didn't love him as much as Dudley, but was he really less important to them than broken toys?

Mr Bertesca asked him if he wanted to leave Privet Drive. He said that he had friends in Italy who would love a bright, kind, hard-working boy like him. He told Harry about the friendly couple who couldn't have any children of their own and the big house they had in the countryside. Harry hung on his every word. To a little boy who had never been outside the country, Italy sounded like a magical place.

On the day before Mr Bertesca had told him he would leave, Harry came over to find another boy sitting on the sofa. He looked a few years older than Harry, maybe even old enough to be in Secondary School. Harry's heart froze. Had Mr Bertesca changed his mind? Had he decided to take a different boy instead?

The boy turned to face him. His eyes were covered with hair, and he was wearing a tiara.

"Ushishishi," he giggled. His smile was creepy, and Harry started to back away towards the door. This boy scared him more than Dudley and Aunt Petunia when he made a mess and Uncle Vernon when Harry did something freaky combined.

"Why are you here, little boy?" he asked. Harry didn't even consider lying.

"Mr Bertesca said he would take me to a new family in Italy," he gasped, finding it hard to breathe through the terror. The boy walked over to him, backing him up against the wall.

"Mr Bertesca is a very bad man, little boy. But a bad man with good taste," he said, grabbing Harry's hand.

"You're practically radiating, little Cloud," he told him.

"What?" This didn't make any sense.

"Ushishishi! Mr Bertesca had to go away. You're coming to Italy with me!" With that, the creepy blond pulled him out the door and into the car waiting outside.

* * *

So, I've been advised to collect the stories together. 'Random 1' will Katekyo Hitman Reborn! / Harry Potters fics. I've also posted 'Random 2', which is Katekyo Hitman Reborn / Yu-Gi-Oh! fics. Hopefully, this will make things easier.


	3. Peacock

**Peacock**

She was smart, for a civilian peasant. Unlike all the others in the library, she hadn't just glanced at him and then looked away. Most civilians took in the tiara, the hair style, the boots, and wrote him off as a flamboyant, attention-seeking teenager. He liked the advantage that came from being underestimated, even if being overlooked made his royal blood boil.

But this girl, in the ugly flannel shirt and practical cargo pants covered in pockets, kept her eyes on him, ignoring the book in front of her. He preened as he strolled over to her. The book he had come to collect could wait. The girl was interesting, and it always felt good to be appreciated. He giggled as he slid into the seat next to her. She tensed, and reached a hand into a pocket. He had a knife pressed into her stomach before she could exhale.

"Ushishishi, you should be careful," he told her. To his surprise, she kept calm. Most civilian girls, hell most Mafia girls, would be terrified already. She obviously wasn't Mafia, he would recognise an up-and-coming like her, but she was definitely something.

"I'm always careful. Can I help you?" Her voice was as steady as her breathing.

"You're interesting," he said. This was the most fun he'd had all week.

"I'm so glad I could amuse you," her voice was dry. "Could I have the pleasure of your name?"

He decided to oblige. It wouldn't hurt anything, and she was so polite! "I'm Prince Bel."

He wasn't expecting her to burst out laughing. His grin widened in a way that made the recruits run for cover as he pressed the knife it closer. If she breathed in, it would cut her.

"I'm sorry, but it's just so perfect!" Perfect? Curious, and willing to be appeased, he waited for her to continue.

"You're flamboyant. Attention seeking. Attracting people while making them underestimate you. You like to put on a show. You're like a peacock. Being called 'beautiful' fits."

She was perceptive, and he wasn't sure whether to be offended or not. Peacocks were Luss's thing, not his. "Ushishishi, it's short for Belphegor. And I'm not female."

"Belphegor? Are you interested in demons? I was reading…"

As Bel was drawn into the discussion, which started on demons, and moved into philosophy, psychology, and molecular physics, he put the knife away. It had been forever since he had met someone who could keep up with him. As he argued with her about the validity of Freudian theory as a method of literary interpretation, he decided that he needed to visit the library more often.


	4. Creation

**Creation**

With a heavy heart, Levi trudged down to the Weapons Development department. Bel had shredded his parabolas, so he needed new ones. Despite the ingenious design and absolute lethality of his weapon, the WD team scoffed at it. They mocked his creation, because it wasn't a gun or a knife, or some kind of traditional weapon. Levi tried to convince himself that they were just jealous that it was his design and not theirs. They got upset when people dared to step on their toes and create their own weapons, and they took Lussuria's lack of a weapon as a personal insult. The thought of their jealousy wasn't very convincing though. They hadn't had a problem with Bel designing his own knives – on the contrary, they had been cooing about it for weeks.

"I'm sure our new members will be delighted to help you," the head of the department told him, sneering. The WD team were all convinced that they were invaluable to the Varia, and they were protected by his reputation as steady and reliable. Levi didn't kill underlings. Still, maybe he could suggest to the crazy prince that they were getting above their station. Passing off a Varia Officer to a newbie couldn't possibly be anything but an insult.

"Over here, my good man!" a red haired man barely out of his teens yelled to him from across the room. Levi walked over to him.

"Come into our little lair and we'll see what we can do for you," he said, opening the door to one of the many workrooms that were connected to the main area.

Inside, the room was covered with wires, gears, bottles of chemicals, knives, guns, a flame thrower, and yards of netting. It was absolutely chaotic, and Levi could feel his fingers itching. The WD department didn't like him interfering, so it had been months since he'd been allowed to play.

"What can we do for you?" the red head asked from behind him. Levi spun round. The man had been in front of him just a moment ago. He blinked in confusion at the two of them now stood in the middle of the room.

"Fred and George, at your service!" they said, with flamboyant bows. Levi tossed his ruined parabolas onto the floor.

"These need fixing. And upgrading. They're too vulnerable to direct attacks, and take too long to charge." He waited for the mockery as they pulled the pieces of metal apart, examining the remains.

"Hey George, pull the schematics," Fred said as he held a twisted chunk of metal up to the light.

George was already at the computer. "Hey Fred, look at this!" he called to his twin. Levi braced himself for the insults as they both turned to him.

"This is ingenious! Did you design this?" Wait, what?

"We'd never even considered harnessing lightning like this! If we used an alloy of…"

With a grin on his face, Levi wrote off the afternoon of training he had planned, and settled in to talk.

* * *

I have two new sets of random prompts out; Random 3, which is pure Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, and Random 4, which is Katekyo Hitman Reborn! / Ouran High School Host Club ficlets


	5. Confession

**Confession**

Dino always enjoyed visiting his family in England, even though he had to sit through the same boring conversation every time before they left.

"Remember, Costantino, Hermione doesn't know anything about the Mafia, or the Famiglia. You mustn't break Omerta," his Dad told him on the way to their house.

"It's Dino, Dad. And I know." Dino was annoyed. His Dad acted like this was new, instead of something that they'd done every year.

"So if she asks about school…" his Dad prompted.

"I can tell her that I go to an exclusive school for heirs. I can tell her that I have a friend called Squalo who's really good with swords, but I can't tell her that he's killed people. I can only talk about normal classes, like History and Algebra, or Economics and Politics. I can't mention Familial Relations or Advanced Negotiation." Dino recited. They'd drilled him on this ever since he started going, since he wrote to his cousin at least once a month.

"Watch your tone, Dino," his Dad warned half-heartedly. Dino just grinned. He loved it when his Dad forgot to be stern and actually called him Dino instead of the monstrosity they'd put on his birth certificate.

"I know that Hermione is younger than you, but she's very smart. If you say too much and she figures things out, we'll have to take her into the Family. Do you want your cousin to be a target, Dino?"

"I know, Dad," Dino grumbled, sinking lower into his seat. He did know. If it wasn't for the fact that it would put her at risk, he would have told Hermione already. She was only nine, but she was way smarter than he was. He knew that she was lonely, and he thought that she might be bullied at school. She didn't have a Squalo to protect her.

* * *

"You can't tell!" Hermione whispered frantically, as she clutched the book to her chest.

They had been sat together in Hermione's room, talking about comic books (which Hermione enjoyed even though her parents thought they weren't 'proper literature') when Dino had knocked a glass of juice over onto one of her library books. Instead of spilling everywhere and staining the pages, the liquid had just floated for a moment, before pouring itself back into the glass. Dino was stunned, but by the look on Hermione's face, this wasn't the first time it had happened.

"What was that? It wasn't Flame…" Dino said, before biting his lip. He hoped she hadn't caught that.

"What's flame got to do with anything?" She asked. Damn.

"What was it?" he asked again, trying to distract her. She started crying. This wasn't going well. He grabbed her hand desperately.

"Don't cry! It's OK, just don't cry," he begged.

She giggled slightly. "I'm OK, Dino. I'm sorry, I don't mean to cry, it's just," she paused and sniffed, pulling her hand back from Dino to wipe her eyes. "Mum told me I couldn't show anyone. They don't know what this is, or why I can do it. I have to keep it a secret."

"That's alright, Hermy. I won't tell, I promise."

"Thanks. And I won't tell that you mentioned Flames." Hermione looked at him with serious eyes. Dino stared back for a moment, and made a decision.

"The school I go to isn't just for rich kids…"


	6. Kitty (Cloud II)

**Kitty**

**Continuation of Chapter 2 - Cloud**

"You're my new pet, little Cloud!" the creepy boy announced gleefully as he sat next to Harry on the plane. The inside of the plane wasn't rows of seats, like on the adverts. It looked more like the inside of one of the fancy rooms in Aunt Petunia's magazines, that she never read but made sure he arranged just so when he cleaned the living room, so that the neighbours would see them when they came to visit. Harry liked looking through them, and dreaming about a house of his own that looked like that. The only other person on the plane with them was a scary man with long blond hair, who had shouted a lot and told the creepy boy that Harry was 'your problem, brat! I'm not dealing with him'.

"What should I call my new pet?" the boy giggled.

"My name's Harry," he told the boy quietly, before he froze. The boy suddenly had knives in each hand, held dangerously close to Harry's face. He stopped breathing.

"Ushishishi! It doesn't matter what your name was, little Cloud. I'm giving you a new name. Now hush. Peasants shouldn't speak unless they're spoken to."

The boy was terrifying, and Harry still didn't know his name. All he could do was stay still and pray that he didn't upset him again. He knew that the knives were real, and he knew that the boy would use them. Dudley wouldn't even have given Harry a warning, if he had been allowed to use knives on him.

"Are you going to start crying, little pet?" the boy cooed. A knife was right next to his eye now, under the edge of his glasses. He couldn't get enough air in, his lungs had stopped working.

"No," Harry whispered, forcing his mouth to move. Crying never solved anything. It just made Dudley want to hurt him more.

"That's not very polite," the boy scowled. Harry's heart thumped in his chest. What had he done wrong? Was he supposed to cry? Everything was different here, and he didn't know the rules. He just wanted things to make sense again.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, then swallowed. Did that break the no-talking rule? He didn't know. His mouth was dry and his head was spinning.

"Ushishishi! The prince forgives you, Kitty. Call me Prince Bel!" the boy's voice was suddenly cheerful again, and the knife moved away from his face. Harry breathed deeply, realising that his chest was burning like Dudley had stomped on it. Apologising seemed to make the boy – Prince Bel – happy. Was that what he had done wrong? Not call the boy by name?

The loud blond looked up from the folder he had been looking at. "Voi! Did you leave any loose ends behind?"

"Nope! Kitty's family won't be causing any problems, Bertesca is very dead, and I have the files," Prince Bel announced. Harry wondered if he was a real Prince. Uncle Vernon had always been very impressed by royalty. What did Prince Bel mean when he said that they wouldn't cause problems? Harry didn't want to ask. Were they dead like Mr Bertesca? Should he be sad about it? All he felt was empty, and kind of relieved. They couldn't touch him again. He was never going back in the cupboard.

"Good. Have Levi sort out papers for the brat when we get back. You can't put Kitty on them." The blond said, shuffling the papers he held.

"But Kitty's his name!" Bel pouted. The knives had vanished into whatever pocket they had come from, and Bel was stroking his hair. As scary as the older boy was, it still felt nice. The only time anyone had touched his hair before was when Aunt Petunia was trying to comb it, and that always felt more like she was trying to rip it out. Bel's hand was amazingly gentle, even when it caught on the tangles which he carefully teased out.

"Kit is short for Christopher. Put that on the papers. Choose a last name." the blond snapped at him, before looking back at the paper in front of him. Bel turned to Harry and grinned, before pulling his arm.

Harry yelped as he was shifted so that he sat cradled in Bel's lap, his head tucked into Bel's shoulder with one of the Prince's arms wrapped tightly around him. It was amazingly comfortable. And Bel hadn't done anything to actually hurt him yet, he hadn't even shouted at him really. This was better than the Dursleys.

"What do you want your last name to be, Kitty?" It seemed like he would be stuck with that name. Still, maybe some of the others would call him Kit, or Christopher. That was a nice normal name. Kitty could be a nickname. Harry had always wanted friends who would call him by nicknames, actual ones like Dudley's friends called him instead of insults. Kitty was better than Freak or Boy, anyway.

"Whatever you want, Prince Bel," he told the Prince. Agreeing made the boy happy, after all, and he didn't want Bel to be angry with him. He couldn't think of any good names anyway.

Harry closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, to the sound of Bel's quiet giggles and the feeling of his gentle hand running through his hair.


	7. Ribbon

**Ribbon**

"With all respect, Officer, the plan is flawed," the brat murmured, just as Levi finished briefing his men. Levi ground his teeth. Midori – and what kind of self-respecting assassin chose a girly name like that anyway – had been a pain in his ass since he'd arrived. If he hadn't been so damned skilled, Levi would have killed him a long time ago.

"I didn't ask for opinions. Move. Now," Levi growled. Any of his other men would have apologised and left immediately. Midori just stood there.

"The plan will get us all killed. If I'm going to die today, I'd rather it be for a worthwhile cause," Midori said calmly.

"Like what?" Levi was barely restraining himself from drawing a weapon.

"Becoming the Lightning Officer seems like a decent goal to have, especially as our current one seems to be incompetent."

And before Levi could even process that the brat had dared to challenge him, Midori was in the air. His knife caught a shallow line across Levi's chest before he leapt back, releasing his parabolas into the air. He heard the others running for the doors.

Midori had the advantage here, he thought as he blocked a knife strike. The room they were in was small, meant for talking not fighting. He had brought his parabolas, but no secondary weapons other than his sword. Midori's close range combat was a better fit, which he must have been counting on when he issued the challenge. Still, he didn't get to be an Officer by being a one-trick pony.

Levi swung his sword out, pushing electricity through it. One touch would put the brat down, and then his parabolas would take him out permanently. He cursed as a ribbon snaked its way around his sword, yanking it out of his hand. Ribbons? He'd known his subordinate was working on a new technique, but nothing like this.

The brat had a half dozen ribbons in his hands, swirling through the air, cutting down his parabolas with offensive ease. Midori smiled slightly at the look on Levi's face. He had just realised how trapped he was. He had thought that he was fighting a Squalo-wannabe, and hadn't been prepared to deal with a Bel. A flash of Lightning flame had the ribbons hardening into a solid cage. Levi's eyes widened just for a moment, and he paused in his attempts to rip the ribbons apart. That moment was all Midori needed to bury a knife in his neck.

* * *

Yes, Harry changed his name to Midori. He was going to go for Verde, but it was already taken.


	8. Bribe (Ribbon II)

**Bribe **

**Continuation of Chapter 7 - Ribbon**

Midori bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited for Sawada and his Guardians to arrive. Hopefully he wouldn't have to fight at all today, but if he did, he was ready. He was all tricked out, with his ribbons wrapped around his arms, spares around his torso, and almost as many knives as Bel. The rain was an annoyance that he wasn't pleased to be dealing with, although he knew the thunderstorm would have been an asset to his predecessor. Bel had certainly mentioned it enough; the Prince seemed to take it as a personal offence that he wasn't the youngest Officer any more, and that his 'kouhai' used knives like him. Even his ribbons were deemed too similar to Bel's wires for the Prince's tastes.

He heard the group come stomping up the stairs, and watched in amusement as they stared in shock at the battleground. He didn't really have room to comment; that had pretty much been his reaction as well. Once the Cervello had finished explaining, his opponent – and who decided to have a five year old fight anyway? – declared it a playground. Great. So his opponent wasn't even one of the competent child assassins. If he's been facing a mini-Bel, he would have felt a lot better about this. He could only hope that his plan worked.

He waited patiently as Sawada's group finished their little team meeting, including a little circle-cheer thing that he found kind of adorable. Fred and George had threatened to paint Wood's broomstick bright green the one time he had brought the idea up though, so he had never taken part in one. Sawada tried to talk the brat out of taking part. Why didn't he just forfeit on his Guardian's behalf? He had to know that it was allowed. The boy was acting as though the decision was entirely down to the child. Did he not understand being a boss at all?

Midori jumped down from the area above where he had been waiting with the other Officers when the Cervello announced the start of the battle. Sawada jumped and shrieked as he appeared. Was it really such a shock? It wasn't as if he had been hiding. Really, this boy was the one that was supposed to be more competent than the Boss? He would be lucky to last a week as Decimo; the best thing he could do would be to get himself killed quickly before he could do too much damage. Luckily, Boss was here to oblige.

It wasn't a surprise that the brat got zapped almost as soon as the match begun. It was a surprise that he survived, but he supposed there had to have been a reason he was chosen despite his youth and incompetence. It just figured that it was because of an inborn ability rather than any real skill. That kind of thing would never pass in the Varia. You needed real talent – they didn't care about bloodlines or any of the other nonsense the rest of the Mafia adored.

Here was where things got tricky. The Bovino were known for having all kinds of gadgets, and any one of them could be threat, despite the uselessness of the one wielding them. He was going to do this a different way.

"Hey, Lambo," he called softly, making sure his face was set in a gentle smile. He hoped it didn't look as fake as it felt. "Do you want candy?"

"Candy! Candy! Give Lambo-san the candy!" the brat demanded. It was like dealing with Dudley all over again.

"I'll trade you the candy for that ring of yours, Lambo-san," he said.

"No! Don't give him the ring, cow brat!" the storm potential yelled from behind them.

"You can't tell Lambo-san what to do!" the child whined, before pulling the ring out of his hair. If there was one thing you could trust, it was the contrariness of children.

One quick swap later, and a bemused Cervello was calling the match. Bel was complaining about the lack of bloodshed, but really, what did he expect? Squalo nodded at him. He might not understand not wanting to kill children, but he understood not fighting unworthy opponents. Together, they jumped off the roof and into the night, leaving the children shrieking about unfair tactics behind them. Honestly, would they have preferred it if he had killed the brat?


	9. Meetings

**Meetings**

The war was won and Voldemort was dead. But the price had been far too high. Ron was the only survivor of the Weasley family, Hermione had been killed during the frantic final battle, and Wizarding England was in shambles. Ron and Harry had struggled to rebuild the wreckage of their lives, with no one to support them and everyone expecting too much from them.

Help came from an unexpected corner when Ron remembered his cousin who was an accountant. Amelia Weasley had married Hiroto Irie and moved to Japan. Desperate for family, Ron had written to his cousin. There followed several months of letters, with Ron learning enough about the Muggle world that he could send emails and make phone calls as well. Ron got on great with his Aunt Amelia, but Harry felt more kinship with her son, Shouichi. Soon, Shouichi was emailing Harry more often than he was Ron. He was like Hermione, frighteningly intelligent and sometimes awkward, but he was shy where she had outgoing, a negotiator where she had been a leader. The similarities were comforting, and the differences helped him to keep his head in the present.

Soon, the media and the politics became too much for the duo. When they mentioned the pressure they were under, Amelia had invited them over to Japan without a second thought. It took less than a week to pack, book plane tickets, and fly over. As soon as he arrived, Harry knew that he never wanted to leave.

"We're really sorry for intruding like this," Harry said in awkward Japanese as he set his bags down on the floor.

"It's no problem. I'm so glad that Shouichi has made such good friends!" Amelia said as she ushered them into the living room. "Sho-kun's out at the moment, but he should be back this evening. He's bringing one of his friends from college to visit. It'll be so nice to have a full house."

Harry and Ron spent the next hour talking with Amelia. He had been afraid that it would be awkward, but the conversation flowed smoothly, from what they planned to do about school to how their Japanese was coming. Harry had a natural flair for language which had surprised him, but Ron was finding progress painfully slow. It was a good thing that both Amelia and Shouichi were fluent in English.

Before they knew it, there was a knock on the door. Amelia got up to answer it, and Harry drew in a deep breath, feeling unexpectedly nervous. He wanted Shouichi to like him. Their friendship online had been so close, and he didn't want real life to break it.

"Hello!" A cheerful voice that he didn't recognise came from the doorway. Harry turned in his seat, and saw Shouichi standing behind a tall blond teenager with a strange tattoo below one eye.

"Sho-chan's told me all about you! It's good to meet you," he chirped as he wandered into the room, Shouichi trailing behind him.

Next to him, Ron whispered loudly, "I though chan was for girls?"

Shouichi smiled uncertainly, and Harry grinned back. He got the sudden feeling that the next few years weren't going to be as peaceful as he had wanted.


End file.
